s and
compounds to the action of which he submitted pieces of cane and other
substances, and afterward enclosed them in numbered and sealed flasks.

A servant entered, announcing the arrival of a peasant.

"Let him enter!" said he, without even turning to look.

Elias entered and remained standing in silence.

"Ah! is it you?" Ibarra exclaimed in Tagalog on recognizing
him. "Excuse me if I have kept you waiting. I was not aware of your
presence. I was making an important experiment."

"I do not wish to disturb you!" replied the young pilot. "I have come
in the first place, to ask you if you want anything from the province
of Batangas, whither I am going now; and, in the second place, to
give you some bad news."

Ibarra looked inquiringly at the pilot.

"The daughter of Captain Tiago is ill," added Elias quietly, "but
the illness is not serious."

"I had already feared it," responded Ibarra. "Do you know what the
illness is?"

"A fever. Now, if you have nothing to order----"

"Thanks, my friend. I wish you a good journey, but before you go,
permit me to ask you a question. If it is indiscreet, do not answer
me."

Elias bowed.

"How were you able to quiet the mob last night?" asked Ibarra, fixing
his eyes on him.

"In a very simple way," replied Elias, with entire frankness. "At the
head of it were two brothers whose father died from the effects of a
whipping at the hands of the Civil Guard. One day I had the fortune
to save them from the same hands into which their father fell, and
for this both are under obligations to me. Last night I went to them,
and requested them to dissuade the others from their purpose."

"And those two brothers whose father died by being whipped to death?"

"They will end their lives in the same way," replied Elias in a low
voice. "When adversity has marked itself once on a family, all the
members have to perish. When the lightning strikes a tree, it reduces
it all to ashes."

And Elias, seeing that Ibarra was silent, took his leave.

The latter on finding himself alone, lost the serenity of countenance
which he had preserved in the presence of the pilot, and grief
manifested itself in his face.

"I--I have made her suffer," he muttered.

He quickly dressed himself and descended the stairs.

A little man, dressed in mourning, with a large scar on his left cheek,
meekly saluted him, stopping him on his way.

"What do you wish?" Ibarra asked him.

"Senor, my name is L